Jonny Hayes has praised Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers as “brilliant” after playing under him at Reading.
The 29-year-old moved to the treble-winning side on Friday afternoon from Aberdeen when the Scottish champions announced on their official website that he has signed a three-year deal with the club.
Midfielder Hayes spoke about how Rodgers was an important figure behind him moving to Parkhead and he referred back to their time at Reading’s academy.
Rodgers has worked at a number of English academies during his career, with his standout role being at Premier League side Chelsea.
Nonetheless, after Hayes finally pen-to-paper on a contract at Celtic, he was full of praise for the senior man in charge.
“Brendan and I go back a long time,” Hayes told the club’s official website. “I worked under him at the academy at Reading but I hadn’t seen him for a few years until the game at Pittodrie earlier in the season. He’s still the same man.
“He’s brilliant to work for and he looks at every little detail. He was a huge factor in wanting to come to Celtic. He’s up there with the best coaches I’ve ever worked for and I’m glad I’ll get to play for him again.”
Aberdeen recently finished the Scottish Premiership season in second place, 30 points behind the Bhoys and nine points ahead of Rangers.
Over the course of the season, Hayes was a key figure in front of goal for Derek McIness’ team, with the highly-rated playmaker scoring nine goals and supplying 19 assists from his 31 league matches.
Added to that, the Dons suffered two cup final defeats at the hands of Celtic, at first they were beaten 3-0 in the Scottish League Cup in November before they fell to a narrow 2-1 loss in the Scottish Cup in May.